Rather than thinking about how to get more people to our websites, or figuring out if we need to have a micro-site or a mobile site, we need to think about the “human digital channel” and interactions. “If you think about all those other things as the shop, then we’re working on how to make a better digital shopkeeper,” Brogan said.

This is a preview of Chris Brogan’s Keynote Presentation from the PRSA 2011 International Conference. Read the full post

For PR professionals, managing a successful social media event can be exhausting — wrestling with new technologies, struggling to fit strategic messages into 140 characters and fighting to maintain high levels of participation. But in our efforts to create conversation, we often overlook our most powerful ally: our audience.

The Lehigh University communications department learned this lesson during our live Twitter coverage of the school’s 2011 commencement ceremony this past May.

This is a preview of Three Lessons to Learn Before Live-Tweeting Your Next Event. Read the full post

In today’s social world, anyone can be a content creator. From marketing and community managers to sales people and customer service representatives, the front-line staff has a far broader reach than ever before. Today’s increasingly social world brings new opportunities to more effectively promote and represent a brand, and create an open dialogue via social channels to the community the organization serves.

While public relations professionals have always played a part in creating content and pushing client messaging to relevant target audiences, the “social boom” has expanded public relation’s role to that of “public engagers.” Now, public relations professionals have to lead and guide the social activities both inside and outside an organization, properly engaging with online influencers and communities.

So why all this focus and attention on online word of mouth? It’s because offline Word of Mouth is very difficult to do. It’s because marketers treat word of mouth as an output (sustaining the conversation) and not as an input (starting the conversation).

The demand for smart Social Media and SEO information from Public Relations departments and agencies has increased significantly this year. Many PR groups are investing significantly in SEO and Social Media strategy, road mapping and training for their teams. In our work as a resource for these organizations, one of the most useful insights we provide is guidance on what to avoid when it comes to incorporating SEO and SMO (social media optimization) into PR content strategies.

No one likes to #fail, so as PR pros ramp up their SEO and Social Media Optimization efforts, here are seven things to avoid:

This is a preview of How Not to Fail at SEO and Social Media Optimization. Read the full post

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